Florence confirmed 4 new international congresses in 2018 and 2 more in 2019. A great success achieved thanks to the strong relationship between the main local players in the MICE industry, the international associations and the local scientific committees.
First on the list is the General Assembly of the European Spice Association which will be held in Firenze Fiera – Congress & Exhibition Centre on May 2018 hosting 300 delegates (23-26 May). The event will take place in Italy for the first time and will be organized by the Florentine PCO Scaramuzzi Team, a Firenze Convention Bureau’s partner.
The EMS Academy chose Florence for the 4° International Symposium on Electro Stimulation (25-26 May 2018), after 3 consecutive editions in Madrid. The support of the local committee of EMS training Academy was important to win the congress which will be organized by MCR Conference (FCB partner) at Convitto della Calza and will be attended by 200 delegates.
The next event in 2018 will be the Integra International 2018 Congress (October) which will be organized in Italy for the first time by the PCO First Class, after being in Tokyo, Capetown, Vienna and Miami. The conference will be expecting around 200 delegates who will be welcomed in Grand Hotel Baglioni, venue of the event and partner of FCB. The destination gave its support to find one of the best institutional venue for free, the Salone dei Cinquecento in the historical Palazzo Vecchio, the town hall of the city.
In October 2018, there will also be the TIES – Ecotourism and Sustainable Tourism Conference – ESTC (15-18 October 2018). The bidding activity was made by Firenze Convention Bureau and Firenze Fiera. The event, will take place in Italy for the first time and will be attended by 600 delegates. Toscana Promozione Turistica (the Tuscany Regional Government Agency responsible for promoting tourism), which first met the client, facilitated the strategic contact during IMEX di Francoforte 2017 with Anna Paola Concia, the Ministry of Tourism of the Municipality of Florence. The association chose Florence as the perfect destination for the conference thanks to the Institutional support and the team work.
Two will be the International events confirmed in 2019. The first is the Design, Automation and Test in Europe – DATE 2019 (25-29 March) and will see the participation of 1500 delegates. The bidding activity was made by Firenze Convention Bureau and its members. One of the key factor has been meeting with Jörg Herrmann, General Manager of the PCO Kit Group in Dresda and the representatives of FCB e Firenze Fiera who presented all the benefits that Florence can offer for an event.
The Switzerland association EAACI chose for the second time Florence, after having organized in the city its 2016 board meeting. In fact, the client decided to organize the EAACI – PAAM 2019 – Pediatric Allergy and Asthma Meeting that will host around 1.700 delegates. This is the great example of collaboration between FCB and Firenze Fiera. The agency Erasmus of Atene, core PCO of the congress, visited Florence during this year (2017) and met with FCB and Firenze Fiera that showed the many possibilities of the destination.
Carlotta Ferrari, Director of Firenze Convention Bureau said: “The constant growth of Florence in the MICE tourism is the great result of this year. The results obtained thanks to our subvention plan, the strong synergy between the main players of the territory and the partnership with the Municipality of Florence make our destination a strategic choice for congresses and events. Florence is in the top 5 Italian MICE destination required for congresses and corporate events in 2017.”
A big result for Florence that can count on a special subvention plan dedicated to international conferences which has been developed by Firenze Convention Bureau together with Firenze Fiera, Tecnoconference – TC Group and other main players in the local MICE industry. With this plan Florence professionals offer a maximum of 60.000,00 Euros of their best services on the occasion of a selection of the most important e relevant international conferences that will be held in Florence. Moreover, to increase the number of corporate events FCVB will launch a special subvention plan within the end of 2017.
Also the Anna Paola Concia, the Ministry of Tourism, Municipality of Florence, affirmed: “These results confirm that Florence is a innovative city thanks to the our strong collaboration with University, Associations, local players. Business tourism, hosting events and meetings are very important factors for Florence in order to better the quality of fluctuation and flow in cities such as our own, succumb to high pressure by tourism. Thanks to the work of Firenze Convention Bureau to increase quantity, quality and scientific importance of events, conferences to be held in the city”.
